A Brother Once Again
by That One Aussie Chick
Summary: Jack Frost and Mother Nature hate each other. Jack wants nothing to do with Nature, and Nature wants nothing to do with Jack. But one day, Nature accidentally lets Jack see her cry, which causes the big brotherliness in him to kick in, and he realizes that Nature hates him because she hates herself. But how can he save her when they've been at each other's necks for 300 years?
1. Nature's Tears

"Jack! You out there?"

Jamie's head was sticking out the window, his wide, hopeful brown eyes scanning the area outside his house for his best Guardian friend. He should be here by now. Where was he?

"Jack?" Jamie called again, now moving his head around to look.

A blast of wind blew Jamie's hair to the side, followed by a blue thing flying past him. A smile grew wide on the boy's face as he realized who it was.

"Jack!"

The only reply Jamie was given was the Guardian's signature laugh as he flew past Jamie's bedroom window again, landing on the tree in the back yard. Everything behind Jamie's house was covered with the magic frost that everyone knew belonged to Jack.

"Snow day, Jamie! Get out here and enjoy it!" Jack yelled, aiming the snowball in his hand at the brunet. Jamie smirked and leaned back, causing the snowball to hit the window. He heard Jack laugh from outside, and he ran, grabbing his hat and shoving his shoes on before racing out the door.

He wasn't even out there for five seconds before another snowball hit him right in the face, knocking him down. He grabbed a handful of snow and sat up to chuck it right at the winter spirit, who didn't see it coming.

"Challenge accepted," Jack teased, shooting a blast of ice at Jamie, who counterattacked with a snowball to Jack's face.

"Woohoo!"

"Yeah!"

"Snowball fight!"

Jamie turned around. Claude jogged through the gate, followed by Caleb, Pippa, and Monty. Jamie couldn't help but grin as Jack attacked them all with snowballs, causing them to defend themselves, all while laughing like the immature children they were.

Snowballs were flying everywhere, hitting anything solid in the area around them. People, trees, houses, occasionally birds...

"Ow! Hey!"

Jack stopped and looked around. He knew that voice, but from where?

"Can you stop being such a child, Jack?"

Now Jack knew who he was talking to. He rolled his eyes and twirled around, narrowing his eyes.

"No, I can't," he said, taking a step forwards. "It's kind of my job, if you haven't noticed."

Finally stepping out of the shadows, the owner of the voice crossed her arms and gave Jack the most annoyed look she could possibly make.

"Have I ever told you how annoying you are?" she asked. Jack chuckled.

"Today? Not yet."

A tense moment of silence followed. The girl grit her teeth and rolled her eyes.

"Just stop throwing snowballs, okay? It hurts when they hit, especially when _you_ throw them," she growled turning on her heels and strutting off. Jack smirked.

"I'll see you later then, Mama?" he taunted, laughing at his own joke. The girl turned around the shot him a look that would most likely have killed him if he wasn't immortal.

"Do not call me Mama, you immature clown. Just go back to being a manchild and play with your stupid friends." she hissed, running off. Jack sighed and went back to the fight, only to see Jamie staring at him, confused.

"Who were you talking to?" the young brunet inquired. Jack shook his head.

"Ah, nobody important."

"But who was it?"

"Mother Nature."

Jamie glanced in the direction the girl had run off in. "Never heard of her."

A fierce wind blew past Jamie, knocking him over.

"Don't make her angry." Jack advised. "Well, not unless you can fight her. She's very powerful."

"I noticed." Jamie groaned as he picked himself up. A snowball hit the back of his head, and he turned around, smirking.

"Who threw that?" he asked, making one from the snow at his feet and throwing it at Monty.

Jack smiled and conjured a snowball, raising his arm to throw it at Pippa, but stopped when he saw Mother Nature, watching them from up in a tree, her eyes glistening with tears.

The grin on the Guardian's face faded away as Nature averted her eyes, a now visible tear slipping down her cheek. She stood up and fell backwards, disappearing into thin air. Jack let his arm fall to his side, dropping the snowball on his own foot.

_He had just seen his arch enemy cry._

And, though he wanted to see it as a way to blackmail her, he felt sympathetic and sad for her, as if she'd been his best friend the whole time.

He had to fix this.

"Sorry, guys, I have to go." Jack said, looking around for a clue as to where Nature would have gone.

"Wait, what?" came Claude's reply.

"Seriously?" Caleb whined, putting his snowball down.

"Why?" Jamie called, looking confused again.

"Guardian business." Jack lied.

"See you later?"

"Yeah, sure. Later."

Jack jumped up onto Jamie's backyard fence, glancing around at the sky.

"Where'd you go, Nature?" he whispered to himself. He flung himself into the air.

"Bye Jack!" Pippa cried, waving. Jack waved back, but kept his eyes on the sky.

"Hey, wind," he said to the oncoming blast of cold air. "Take me to Mother Nature's place."

With a harsh blowing noise and a massive gust of wind, Jack was gone.


	2. The Doors

The giant wooden doors placed under the huge intertwined roots of the massive trees looming over him was enough for Jack to know that he was at the right place.

And, if he was completely honest with himself, he was really jealous of the fact that a non-Guardian had such a grand looking house like this. He was only standing outside, but he just had a feeling that Mother Nature's lair was probably really cool.

Which, of course, sort of ticked him off.

"Okay." Jack sighed out, taking a step forward, reaching out his hand, and knocking on the door. He heard the echoes bouncing around inside and wondered if it was really as big inside as it looked from the outside.

Jack stepped back slightly and waited. And waited. And waited and waited and waited. He waited for 10 minutes and the door stayed closed.

But, for some really stupid reason, Jack stayed where he was. He reached out his staff and banged it against the door 3 times. A muffled apology and frantic shuffling noises followed almost immediately after Jack had knocked again. The door swung open, revealing the only slightly puffy eyed Mother Nature.

"_Jack Frost_?" she asked through tightly gritted teeth. Jack nodded, keeping a straight face.

"You said my name right, yes," Jack said in a mocking tone. Nature narrowed her eyes.

"Why are you here?" she asked, sounding really angry.

"Because I wanted to know if you have any milk I can borrow," came Jack's sarcastic reply. Nature rolled her eyes and slammed the door. Jack threw his head back and laughed. The door opened again and Nature stepped fully out, her arms crossed over her chest.

"What is so funny?" she demanded. Jack pretended to wipe a tear away from his left eye.

"It's just funny how you think that slamming the door on me will make me go away," he chuckled. Nature groaned.

"Well then," she mumbled. "If you won't leave then I guess I'll have to invite you inside."

Jack raised an eyebrow as Nature kicked the door open wider behind her and stepped to the side. Jack strutted past her, feeling strangely proud.

But that all changed when he was fully inside.

His eyes widened and his mouth opened. The arrogant, cocky aura he always put on when around his enemy disappeared, and awe immediately took its place. The door closed behind him, and Nature appeared at his side, an annoyingly smug smirk plastered onto her face.

"Welcome to Nature House," she said, gesturing to the glorious magnificence in which she lived. Jack's eyes were darting around excitedly, taking in every detail he could find. The inside was huge and cylinder shaped, with rounded platforms lining the walls. On each platform, cubicles were sorted into rows, each one with an animal watching a TV screen. The coolest thing was the fact that everything (except for the screens, of course) was made out of something you'd find in an area of untouched, purely natural... well, nature.

Jack whistled in approval. "Okay, I'll admit, you have a pretty cool place."

Nature's grin grew wider at Jack's comment. Jack glanced at her and cleared his throat, trying to act serious.

"Well, it'd be cooler if it wasn't yours," he stated, crossing his arms. "Or... something."

Nature laughed. "You know you can come up with better, Jack," she teased, ruffling his hair. Jack made a growling noise and Nature tapped his nose. "No, no no no, no growling."

Jack snapped his jaw at her finger and she quickly withdrew it before it came into contact with Jack's teeth. The Guardian smiled.

"Show me around, Mom," he teased, trying hard to stifle a laugh. Nature rolled her eyes again.

"I'm going to kill you," she mumbled under her breath, but put on an obviously fake smile and nodded. "Certainly, Mr Elderly Snowman."

Nature dragged practically dragged him through her mansion, giving him only a few of the details. After all, she'd learned to distrust the immature boy over the years.

"The TVs each show a specific area," she explained. "I have animals watch over them because I'm usually busy."

"Busy with what?" Jack inquired.

"Either doing my nature spirit stuff or winning fights against you."

Jack opened his mouth to crack a joke, but Nature slapped him.

"No. None of your awful jokes or I will legit murder you." she said, talking quickly. "Also you are in my house."

For some stupid reason, that shut Jack up. Nature continued to show him around, giving him a tour of the cafeteria ("Finest food ever made, and you don't get any."), the Globe ("Just like North's globe, only it shows where there's a nature related problem. Also it's cooler."), the indoor and outdoor gardens ("Jack, unfreeze that fountain right now."), and the Jack Frost Is A Twat room ("My shrine to how much I hate you."), which Jack actually found really funny, except for the life size poster of him with Sharpie drawn facial hair.

"You could've at least given me a cooler mustache," Jack commented, and Nature slugged his arm, shoving him out of the room and down the hallway to another set of massive doors, although the first one was a lot bigger. These doors had a massive 'MN' engraved in them, and below the letters was the carving of a leaf.

Nature pushed open the doors with both hands and stepped inside, walking a little too confident for Jack's liking.

"Welcome to my bedroom," she proudly announced, arms outstretched as if to say 'look at my awesome bedroom and feel bad about your own'.

Jack would only admit this to himself, but it was a pretty cool bedroom.

Everything was all naturey. The bed was a strangely comfortable looking hammock weaved out of bamboo and tied to two really thick tree branches. The mattress looked like it was made out of some strange material that Jack had probably never heard of before. The entire room was weaved out of tree branches, and had a grassy, leaf covered floor. The windows were large bubbles of water sort of floating around in square shaped roots.

It was so much cooler than Jack wanted to admit.

And that annoyed him.

"This is my bed," Nature stated, gesturing to the hammock. "These are my state of the art windows, my closet with the really cool intricate designs..."

Jack rolled his eyes as Nature went on and on and on. And on. He turned around, taking a slow step towards the doors when he caught sight of the room across the hall.

It had the same pair of doors, except with the initials 'ME' and a globe instead of a leaf. Jack cocked his head slightly and took another few steps towards the other door.

"Jack?'

Jack turned. Nature stood near her bed, giving him a questioning look. "What were you looking at?"

Jack glanced back at the other door for a few seconds.

"The other doors," he said, and watched, confused, as Nature's gaze shifted from him to the door, her eyes narrowing.

Jack sucked in a breath and glanced at the doors again.

Who was 'ME'?

"Who's 'ME'?" Jack asked, speaking his mind. The nature spirit inhaled sharply, bringing Jack's attention back to her.

"Nobody," she said, lips pressed tightly together. "Well, we've reached the end of the tour. Goodbye."

Jack raised a questioning eyebrow as Nature shoved him back through her house the way they'd come and pushed him out the doors, slamming them behind her. Jack turned and faced the doors.

"I'll come back, then?" he called. The door locked. He sighed and flew off, wondering why Nature was so sensitive about the other doors.


	3. I Love You

Nature sat on her bed, head hung, eyes closed. She was holding her own arms as if she were cold, though Jack had left. She glanced over at the door across from her bedroom and sighed.

Earthie would never come back.

Slowly, the nature spirit shifted herself so she was lying on the bed, facing the wall. She pulled the covers over herself and closed her eyes, and though she was exhauster and it was dark out, she couldn't bring herself to fall asleep. She just lay there, fully awake with her eyes shut.

Much to her dislike, images of Jack playing with the kids from Burgess played through her mind. And each time, she became more and more jealous.

And more and more upset.

She couldn't take it anymore and burst out of her bed, running trough the hall towards the other door. With a swift push, she opened it, focusing on the room inside. It was virtually the same as hers, but it was different in a way that Nature couldn't quite put her finger on.

The moonlight shone through the bubble windows, creating a glowing pattern that seemed to dance on the floor below Nature's bare feet. Though she was smiling, the girl sighed and glanced up at the moon, blinking back tears.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, her smile flickering on and off. She couldn't do it, she couldn't hold the tears back. One by one, they fell, sliding down her cheeks, falling onto the floor. "I'm so, so sorry."

Slowly, her hand went from the door handle to her side, where it hung for a second before she glanced down at it and sighed again. She wiggled her fingers, causing sparkling green magic to light up for as second. Nature giggled, but her smile was fake.

"I love you," she whispered, curled her hand into a fist, kissed it, then threw the magic into the room, closing the door as she walked away, wiping the tears with the other hand.

The wind blew through the window closest to her own bedroom. It blew Nature's dirt brown hair to the side, half of it landing on her shoulder. Nature glanced up at the window as she entered her room, climbing back into her bed. As she closed her eyes, the wind blew gently around her room, creating a soft noise that lulled the spirit to sleep.

_I love you too, sister. I love you too._


	4. Secrets

There was a lot on Jack's mind when he returned to Burgess. Most of them were his stupid boy things, like when he would next get to play a prank on someone. But there was one thought that stuck out most, and it was about the doors at Nature's house.

Why had she suddenly gotten all sensitive about it?

Eh, whatever. He was going to back. He'd get the answers then.

Jack looked around, noticing that it was darker now than it had been before he left. He scanned the area for Jamie and his friends, but they were all gone. Probably asleep. Jack sighed and jumped into a tree next to Pippa's house. He leaned agains the trunk, legs spread across a branch. He watched the leaves as they bent from the wind. Jack looked closely and noticed that, in the light of the bright silver moon, the leaves were the same color as Nature's eyes.

Jack allowed himself to smile at this. He had always known that Nature's appearance matched her powers, but he'd never noticed the fact that they were exactly the same. Her hair was the color of the dirt, her eyes the same shade as a tree's leaves, her skin gently kissed by the sun. Jack had to admit, Nature was attractive.

But he didn't have a crush on her or anything. Jack wasn't the type to fall in love. Before, when he was Jackson Overland, maybe, but not now. Not while he was Jack Frost. He didn't need a girl to tell him how to live. He was a lone ranger. Riding solo.

Jack's mind eventually wondered back to Mother Nature. He had several questions for her, but he wasn't sure whether or not he should ask them. He didn't want to make her angry again, but he wanted answers. He _needed_ answers. It was the only thing he could think about.

But... why? Why couldn't he think about things like being a Guardian? Or starting snowball fights? Why were his thoughts focused on a lonely nature spirit who he hated?

"Ugh," Jack groaned, shifting so he was hanging from the tree by his legs. He studied the ground just a few feet below him, catching a glimpse of a squirrel crawling through the grass before it scrambled up the tree opposite him.

"Jack?"

Jack's head snapped in the direction of which his name had come. Tooth came out of the shadows, hovering just above the ground so that their eyes were at level with each other.

"Hi," Jack said, smiling. Tooth glanced down at his teeth for a second. Even after almost a year, she was still obsessed with his teeth.

"What are you doing here?" Tooth asked. "Shouldn't you be off giving grief to the kids in Russia?"

Jack shrugged. Well, he tried to. It was hard when he was upside down.

"Don't have anything to do," he said. "What about you? Jamie lose another tooth?"

"Sophie," Tooth corrected him. Jack nodded. The two Guardian's kind of hung there in an awkward silence for a few seconds. Tooth started to fly away, but Jack stopped her.

"Tooth?" he called. The fairy stopped and turned, but she didn't get any closer to Jack. She cocked her head, waiting for something else to be said.

"Do you know anything about Nature's past?" Jack inquired, swinging himself up so he was actually sitting on the branch. Tooth looked like she'd been punched in the face.

"M-other Nature?" she stuttered. Jack nodded. Tooth's eyes darted to the left, which Jack saw as a sign that she was about to lie. "Um, no, I, uh, I-I don't know anything about her, um, past."

Jack gave her a look. He knew she was lying. She was hovering above the ground, her wings flapping extra fast now. Her hands were clenched behind her back and her eyes couldn't meet his.

"Tooth," Jack said, drawing the word out long like the fairy had done something sketchy.

"Yes?" Tooth said, trying her most dazzling smile in an attempt to let herself off the hook.

"Tell me about Nature's past," Jack urged, raising an eyebrow. "Who's 'ME'?"

Tooth sighed and hung her head.

"I can't tell you, Jack," she said softly. "I swore to keep it a secret from you ever since you became a Guardian."

Jack glanced at the ground. Why did Nature not want him to know about her past? He closed his eyes and sighed.

"Never mind then," he said, leaning back so he was laying on the branch. He didn't bother asking any more questions about Nature to Tooth. He was going to ask the spirit herself.

He was going to find out about those doors, whether Nature wanted him to or not.


End file.
